After the funeral
by Minne-My
Summary: Elinor's wake doesn't go as planned


'What are you jealous of?' She asked her ex-husband belligerently when he saw them holding hands. 'That my girlfriend's hotter than yours? Too right. Go back and get yourself a refund on her.'

Bernie honked inappropriately. People turned round and looked but for that moment, they didn't care.

The aftermath of Elinor's wake didn't go quite to plan. Edward drank out his grief in public while Serena hid it away. He was reduced to telling people stories about the good old days when he and his ex-wife were young, carefree and stupid.

'She swung round and round the fireman's pole at the first party we went to. It was a scream. I knew I had to get to know her.'

Serena wished she bloody well hadn't. Off her face and wearing the leopard print mini skirt her mother had so hated, she had stumbled into his arms after the fifth swing and it had all gone downhill from there. From his constant lies, to the ruined flowers at their cheap and nasty wedding and the way he'd abandoned her through her 27 hour labour, claiming work duties. He was more of a hindrance at that point but it reminded her of all of the times he let her and their daughter down.

'How about talking about our daughter for once? Would it kill you to say something nice about her, the one you kept fobbing off with money every time? No wonder she was so spoilt.'

An uncomfortable hush spread its poisonous tentacles when Elinor was mentioned. That little madam had been the source of a lot of grief for Serena but she was still her daughter.

'You were too harsh on her' he said.

'Someone had to keep her on the straight and narrow. You were barely there. Off shagging several registrars in a week, not remembering her birthdays because you weren't even there when she was born. Giving her credit cards with no credit, humiliating her in front of her friends. Thinking it was so easy to swoop in and save the day whenever it suited you, then dropped her again when you had something else going on. You never put her first. You did fuck all for her.'

Gone was patience, gone was her rule not to slag him off about his failings as a father in public but her baby was gone and he'd done nothing to make it easier for her to deal with her when she was alive and it hadn't changed now that she was dead.

He looked like she'd slapped him in the face. He was silent, but not for long. Good old Edward was back on his feet, making light of the situation to put away the remorse he suddenly felt. He hadn't known his daughter as well as he should have, Serena had got the measure of Elinor better than he had. But they both knew that neither one had really understood her. And now it was too late. Edward buried his head in the sand once more and downed an entire bottle of whiskey while Serena could barely touch her wine.

'This woman used to match me, drink for drink.' He gestured to her glass. She gave him a tight vindictive grimace back.

'At the time I couldn't figure out the real problem, you or the alcohol.'

'You stopped drinking after a while. You were so much more fun before.'

'I sobered up and saw who I had married. Kept me clearheaded for a while.' She glared at him, a cruel smile glimmering in her eyes. 'Getting drunk was the only way to have fun with you. I stopped doing that pretty early on. No wonder we only had the one child.'

That shut him up. Of all the things she could have thrown at him, that was the worst. She stalked out, slamming the door behind her. He stood there as if he were turned to stone. Ric and Bernie saw the devastation in his eyes and understood she'd hit him where it hurt. He was feckless, thoughtless and unreliable but he had loved his daughter in his own way. He hadn't treated her as well as he should have but he had loved her.

'Quit while you're ahead' Ric said to him, acidly.

Serena had made it clear that he had humiliated her, the mother of their child and his first ex-wife, for the last time. Reminded him that their marriage wasn't just a punchline for his asinine friends. Reminded him of all that he had lost. Her presence, her respect and finally, their daughter.

Serena couldn't bring herself to shed a tear for him at his funeral when he died only five years later, in the midst of being prosecuted over having hit a child while drink driving. He never made it to court, having corroded his liver for the final poisonous time. She'd wasted too much time and energy on someone who refused the means to help himself, let alone others. It was too late for any of that now. She had to pick up her own life now.


End file.
